TUESDAY TICKLERS

14 CANDIDATES MISSING IN INACTION

It is an absolute insult to the electorate of Northampton that her Majesty's official opposition in Government can fail to stand candidates in 14 of the 45 contested seats in this years Borough Council Elections.

The Labour Party's latest ineptitude means that in many areas of the town including Boothville, Rectory Farm, Park, East Hunsbury and Upton that voters can only choose between Conservative and Lib Dem candidates, and at a time when Local Government cuts are being imposed at our Town and County Hall By A Tory Lib Dem coallition then that choice is the equivalent of a condemned man being asked if he wants to be hung or shot.

There are also no Labour candidates standing in Parklands, Phippsville, Nene Valley or West Hunsbury, but at least in these seats people wanting to vote against the coallition can choose from Independent, (Nene Valley) Christian Peoples Alliance (Parklands West Hunsbury) UKIP (Parklands) or Green (Phippsville)

What really surprises me about all this though is that up to now we have been told that Labour's local difficulties were all my fault, and confined only to Northampton South, but as can be seen from the list above, and after less than a year without Ms Keeble (Porter) on the scene the organisation in the Northampton North Constituency seems also to have collapsed.

Well I hope the regional party don't try to pin this one me as well! Or perhaps it was John Dickies fault? or Geoff Howes or Peter Evans? One thing is for sure, it would never of happened with Anjona Roy as Agent, but of course they expelled her as well!



THANK GOD FOR RADIO FOUR

I get a lot of stick from Mrs Clarke and the kids for my car radio listening choice but I care not, as it seems this is the last vestige of the truth left on the BBC and or within the British media. This morning their was a very enlightening interview with Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif about the defection of Libya's ex Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, remember him?

A high profile defection, we were told, organised through M16 who would now throw daylight on what really happened at Lockerbie and at the Libyan Embassy when PC Yvonne Fletcher was gunned down.

Anyhow now it seems as if Moussa Koussa actually left Libya for Tunisia on sick leave some time ago and made contact with the Brits not because he wanted to share all Colonel Gaddafi's closest secrets with us, but because he is receiving treatment every three months at the private and exclusive Cromwell Hospital in London!

As for those juicy details on past crimes of the Libyan state, as most of us imagined, Saif Gaddafi said

"We have already told the British Government everything they want to know about Lockerbie and the embassy shootings, they know everything"




THE BOLTED HORSE HAS DOOR AFTER STABLE THE SHUTTING (please re arrange)

Still on Libya, the Commons’ Committee on Arms Export Controls has just released a damning report on Britain's Arms sales to? you guessed it Colonel Gaddafi's regime in Libya. It seems that successive governments are guilty of selling weapons to Libya and other dictatorships in North Africa and the Middle East just four months before Gaddafi’s regime slaughtered hundreds of protesters, a damning report reveals today. Ministers approved the export of sniper rifles, bullets, tear gas and other ‘crowd control’ ammunition to Tripoli shortly Gaddafi ordered his military to crush a pro-democracy uprising.

Gaddafi used the UK-made arms against the rebel uprising in Libya were an estimated 1,000 Libyan citizens have been killed since his violent crackdown was launched. Since 2009, Britain approved export licences worth £2.3billion to 16 states over a 21-month period. Military export licenses to Libya alone since the start of 2009 totalled £61.3million, according to Department for Business figures.

The UK also awarded Bahrain £6million of licences covering sub machine guns, sniper rifles, CS hand grenades, smoke canisters, stun grenades and riot control agents. At least 26 citizens have been killed and 1,000 injured in Bahrain as the Gulf state cracked down on freedom campaigners.

Britain also approved arms licenses totalling £1.7billion to Saudi Arabia, £20.4million to Egypt, £276.9million to Algeria and £52.8million to the United Arab Emirates. Body armour and night vision goggles have been approved for Yemen, small arms ammunition for Syria, and sniper rifles, aircraft components and armoured personnel carriers for Saudi Arabia.

Oh, and now Foreign Secretary William Hague is hinting on arming the rebels as well.

Its a dirty and lucrative trade War! and Government!